2014 NAPgA Rendy

[Nanno]

Hear! Hear! I feel the same way about the silent auction. Having the yurt to house the items in was wonderful. It was nice to be able to look around and get a close look at things. But I think it would have gone better with a regular auction format, and those are so much fun! Our local saddle club does a fundraiser auction every fall at the banquet, and people have an hour or two during dinner to browse at the auction tables. Then a volunteer does the auctioneering. We do have a professional auctioneer in our saddle club, and he's been able to call the auction a few times, but usually it's just one of the guys who does his best impression of an auctioneer. This past year we paid way more for a few items only because one fellow kept bidding up Phil on purpose every time just to give him grief. Since it's a fundraiser we didn't mind. Also, the auctioneer can usually coax a higher price from reluctant bidders by pointing out the merits of the item on hand and putting specific interested parties on the spot.